Tag Archives: editor

After actively running this website for almost half a year, I would like to make a list of the blogs/blog sections (in alphabetic order) that I find insightful and informative for writers, readers, and publishers. Most of them are also very well designed, which means that you can enjoy a visual feast while savouring news feeds from the publishing world:

Announcement: Publishing Insights will not be updated in April as I am currently preparing to graduate and my schedules look quite daunting. Thank you very much for your understanding in advance, and I look forward to resuming our discussion here in May.

I have just started my student internship at Hong Kong University Press, and my duties rotates between the marketing division and a central database project.

Having met the Marketing Manager Ms. Chau on my first day, I eventually learned a lot more about the company’s publishing procedures, and obtained an overview of academic book publishing in Hong Kong. HKU Press was established in 1956, and every since then it has been a bilingual publisher of works both in English and Chinese. The company publishes the majority of their books in English and strives to achieve for them the widest international distribution, so intra-regional conversation as well as exchanges with North America and Europe are highly valued. The scope of their publications focuses on cultural studies, film and media studies, Chinese history and culture.

In the marketing division, I am working closely with the Publicity Manager Ms. Lim, who assigns various types of tasks to me, including flyer design, copywriting, event curating, and general PR communications.

To be honest, I was quite surprised to learn that more than 70% of HKU Press titles have an e-book version, and they are working to build up a brand new central database, where information of approximately 2,000 published titles is digitalised and made easily accessible by authors and publishers from around the globe. The fact that academic publishers and even the entire academia are embracing digitalisation is going to shape the way we develop and store our knowledge in the future.

As an academic publisher affiliated with Hong Kong University, the company does not have too much concern over book sales, but instead focuses on publishing titles that represent high-quality scholarship in Hong Kong and worldwide. Being interested in both research and publishing, I find working for HKU Press extremely desirable for me, as I now have some in-house work experience with an academic publisher, and will get the opportunity to communicate with international readers and reviewers.

This is the very first time that I have been working for an academic publisher, and I feel very fortunate to be selected as their first intern in the past three years. For now, I truly enjoy working in this environment, with like-minded people who are equally passionate about academic publishing and dedicated with their work. I hope to share more of my experience at HKU Press as I proceed with my internship, and who knows what I will discover down the road?

We are so obsessed with talking about the future of something, yet it is true that making predication remains a worthy pursuit of many social scientific investigations. Tobi Bauckhage, the CEO and co-founder of Moviepilot, talks about the emerging hybrid modelswhich seems to be merging platforms and publishers into one, leading the neologism “platisher” to being “a new breed of content providers”.

Bauckhage begins with explaining the (previous) distinctions between a platform and a publisher. Platform models facilitate “the production and distribution of content”, empowered by technology and contributed equally by every user, whereas publisher models make all decisions about the content and “were responsible for bad content or copyright infringements”.

Recently, however, social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, are pushing into the content creation area, while traditional publishers start to build up their online platform. Meanwhile, many hybrid media companies — or “platishers” — begin to emerge with considerable success.

With numerous creation of content and new business models flooding the internet, Bauckhage points out that the current challenge is to make relevant content stand out “in a meaningful, pluralistic and diverse way”, which is much related to the functionality of SEO. His confidence in new hybrid models being “the future of media”, though, seems to go without much justification — or should we just take it as self-explanatory?

Going beyond the dichotomous argument of “traditional publishing vs. self-publishing”, the 2014 conference shifted its focus to seeking possible routes to a successful writing career. Writers seemed to start reflecting on their self-publishing experiences (and each other’s sharing) with a critical eye, “acknowledging the huge potential challenges” and hopefully preparing themselves for the tough road ahead. When commenting on the quality of self-published books, Chalmers states,

It is ultimately that and nothing else that will provide self-published writers with long and successful careers.

Finally, authors at the conference generally expressed their concerns (and possibly anxiety) about marketing, to whom Chalmers suggested that they should not be too “hung up on social media” but should turn to physical copies and try to sell them through local bookshops instead. Sensing an increased degree of self-regulation and professionalism, Chalmers will not be the only one who feels positive about the future of self-publishing in the industry.

One thing that I’ve wanted to point out is that I think there is a general misconception with traditional and self publishers about “getting the book out there.” There is no “out there.” There is only “who is for” and “how is the author cultivating and adding value for readers.” People read and share information based on trust in relationships, and we should bear that in mind when we write/publish a book.

Malone calls our attention to one aspect of the publication process that is often “neglected” — the writing itself. Authors often leave their manuscript to be taken care of by the agent/editor once it’s “done”. And indeed it is a traditional publisher’s responsiblity to oversee the entire publishing process, except for one thing: the writing is never done. While authors in traditional publishing have to wait anxiously for months before they can move on to the next step, Malone suggests that they should take the time to “focus on the book” by joining critique groups, working with an editor, and writing some more, perhaps not for adding to the quantity but reflecting on the quality of your previous drafts. She makes a final comment by saying:

“the publishing world is changing… it’s important we know what those changes are and what does it mean for authors. How will these changes affect my chances of publication?”

There’s no need to rush when it comes to publishing. And if I have learned anything from the discussions that I have with fellow authors/publishers since this site was launched, here are two things: (1) books doesn’t just sell themselves; the quality of writing should always be your priority thing, particularly if you intend to self-publish, and (2) don’t panic over “knowing nothing about publishing” as it is not going to help you get published. No one is born with a knowledge of the ins-and-outs of publishing, but it’s never to late to start learning, especially when it is so essential to the authors, because not only will it protect your rights, but it may also help you succeed in the highly competitive literary world.

Brian G. Johnson, author of Azon Bestseller, shares Kindle self-publishing tips and advice that will allow you to drive more traffic and thus make more sales. Talking from his experience as an “Internet Marketer”, Johnson elaborates on how to make your books more “visible” amid the ocean of books on Google and Amazon by explaining how the search engine works.

Please also be aware that some form of self-promotion of the speaker’s book is involved in this short video. While I have no intention at all to promote Johnson’s book per se, producing a tutorial video does seem to be a great marketing idea for self-publishing authors, especially if you are a Youtube savvy.

The article begins with the publishing endeavours of an author, Megan Chance, who was convinced that she had fallen into the “vicious cycle common to the publishing world”. Having signed up with Amazon Publishing, Chance witnessed the Amazon team utilising all their online resources and making her latest book a great sale. But all success comes at a cost, and for Chance, it involves not seeing her books in stores, “sacrificing prestige in the traditional, New York­-based literary world”, and some recognition in the rest of the world, because Amazon’s publishing model is “almost entirely self-contained.” The model that Amazon Publishing created has not won the reputation that it aspired in more than a few ways, but it has proved “surprisingly profitable” for authors who seek self-publishing as an alternative to traditional publishing houses.

However, Shapiro points out that some authors realise the model is not working for them; “… the hurdles to success, especially in the self-publishing market, are getting harder by the day.” Stories of a few more authors with Amazon experience were discussed. With some part of the publishing world starting to call Amazon “monopoly”, some author organisations are even preparing to take it to court while others grow a more supporting voice.

Shapiro describes Amazon Publishing — and what it will achieve — as an unfolding tale. The division now seeks opportunities in not only self-publishing, but also “republishing out-of-print books”, and introducing foreign language books into the English literary world (via translations imprint Amazon Crossing). As Amazon Publishing declares more competition with major publishers, many wonder if “gold rush is over.” As Bob Mayer, a publishing practitioner and writer, points out: “It’s the best time ever to be an author since there are so many options. But it’s as hard as ever to succeed long term.”

Like this:

“Ursula K. Le Guin accepts the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the 65th National Book Awards on November 19, 2014.”

This video went virus within the online author/publisher community when it was first released. Now a discussion in retrospect, we can refresh our memories of how Le Guin informs us once again the “dangers to literature” and schools us on creative freedom. While our community need people who know the difference between “the production of a market commodity and the practice of an art”, we should also bear in mind that books, whose profit motive often conflicts with the purpose of art, “are not just commodities.”

At the end of the speech Le Guin says, “But the name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom.” Spirits of the writing and publishing community — a belief in resistance and change in “the art of words” — shall stay alive. That’s really all we need to hear.

Like this:

In the article Literary Agents: heroes no more?, Bonie Santos introduces John Saddler’s class about the role of literary agents, and how this role has changed over the course of publishing history. She lists six major responsibilities of a literary agent, including bridging between authors and publishers, advising authors, and handling issues related to marketing and rights.

Various roles were introduced into the publishing chain from the early 17th century to the late 19th century, as illustrated in the picture above. Today, the necessity of literary agencies are challenged by the emerging e-book market, which makes their role less profitable, and by the digital technology that allows authors to directly reach their readers through self-promoting on social media. There have been concerns about the loss of status of literary agent, which may potentially put authors in disadvantage during negotiation with publishers; Jason Allen Ashlock urges fellow literary agents to “retain their heroic role, which is to protect authors”. However, this concern seems much less relevant if the authors take an alternative approach — self-publishing. I believe that in digital era, where there is challenge, there is opportunity, as indicated in the Chinese phrase for “challenge” (危機/危机, wei1 ji1). As for literary agents, they may wish to seek a brighter future in honing on their consultancy and networking services rather than simply acting as a representative during the author/publisher negotiation.